Hey, Camp Preppers!

As the end of April draws near and we move into the prime time for summer camp preparations, it’s good to remind yourself that the end result of all your hectic planning is a fun summer camp experience for your camper. That’s why, despite how busy we get at Everything Summer Camp, we always strive to keep our work environment fun.

For today’s blog post I’d like to tell you about another one of Everything Summer Camp’s excellent employees: Jessica. You can always count on Jessica for an infectious smile and a good laugh to keep things light around the office.

Hired on for our seasonal help last year in the call center, Jessica showed exceptional skills in customer service—handling inbound calls and the occasional “problem order.” Soon after last year’s busy season came to an end, Jessica was asked to stay on year-round and was then made the Call Center Supervisor.

If you placed an order over the phone for camp trunks or any camping supplies in the last year, there’s a good chance that you’ve spoken with Jessica.

It seems nothing short of fitting that Jessica should have found a place for herself here at Everything Summer Camp since she spent six years in elementary education, teaching second and third graders. That was when she lived in North Dakota.

After that she went on to work as a Childcare Director where she spent her days with infants and getting to know kids as old as seniors in high school as a substitute teacher. It’s safe to say that working at Everything Summer Camp suits Jessica very well and definitely fits the theme that her work history has developed.

Someone who has worked with, and to help, kids for so long must have really enjoyed their own childhood—right? Jessica fondly recalls her days as a girl scout in Camp Nawakwa, WI. It was there that she learned to make spaghetti—which is now her husband’s favorite meal. It was also where she and a friend learned to canoe—but not before needlessly circling for who-knows-how-long!

Everything Summer Camp is more than happy to have such a diligent, down-to-earth employee as Jessica. Give us a call and maybe you can talk to her too!

Hey, Boys and Girls!

You’re in for a real treat! Today’s post is now the fourth installment of this blog’s employee spotlights. Allow me to virtually introduce you to the Sales Director of Everything Summer Camp, Mr. Matthew Stephen DeMuth. 

With his crazy sense of humor, solid determination, and wild eccentricities, Matt has played a vital role in helping kids get their camp trunks and camping gear on time, the growth of Everything Summer Camp, and the overall shaping of our company for almost eight years.

It’s really sort of a fluke that Matt started working here in the first place. He had posted a résumé online. When we caught sight of it, it got printed out and, somehow, mixed in with a stack of résumés from actual applicants.

Though, he previously had no idea that such a company existed—much less was he trying to apply for any position here, we asked if he wanted to come in for an interview anyway and he accepted.

Brought on as the manager of our Call Center, Matt spoke on the phone to any summer camp with whom we did business. But he showed a great knack for building a rapport from camps that we didn’t already work with.

As a result, he was officially made our Camp Liaison, put in charge of managing each and every camp account that he pursued and acquired. Matt has since embraced his role of building relationships with camps. He spends a good number of workdays visiting summer camps all around the country.

Turning working relationships that he has with camps into friendships is his favorite part of the job. Matt doesn’t just work hard, though. He’s often times the straw that stirs the drink around the office and really contributes to the family we have at Everything Summer Camp.

Whether it’s his goofy office pranks or our cherished Question of the Day tournaments (in which he asks the employees here random trivia questions like what are the three types of clouds), he continually helps to unite us.

Aside from work, Matt’s a family man. He cherishes his wife and twins every day. He enjoys the outdoors as often as he can. He likes hunting and fishing and he’s crazy about sports. Nowadays he’s grown accustomed to the ways of the office though he sometimes misses his days as a traveling country music singer.

Still, Matt will always remain passionate about singing, playing the harmonica, and life in general.

Until next time, Campers! And, as always, thanks for reading!

Hey, Summer Camp Fans!

Our last Employee Spotlight blog post talked about our Production Supervisor, Shirley who is in charge of our camp trunk manufacturing.

The thought with these Employee Spotlight blog posts is for you to get to know us better here at Everything Summer Camp, learn something about the people who work here, and to get a better understanding of who we are as a company.

For today’s blog post I stopped in Mark’s office and had a chat with him. Mark is the Vice President of Everything Summer Camp—not to mention a very happy guy now that his latest project (our new website) has recently launched.

As Vice President of the company, Mark’s job is to oversee many different aspects of the business with a primary focus on Everything Summer Camp’s Web site and Product Development. His job faces him with new challenges every day.

Knowing Mark, he wouldn’t have it any other way. “I like finding solutions that are innovative in helping campers get ready for camp—or help them while they’re at camp,” he says. He loves that his job brings something new to the table every day. 

He’s had the same attitude toward his work for all of the nine years that he’s been here, starting out in Purchasing and moving up to Lead Buyer; Mark has held a variety of positions before becoming the Vice President of the company.

His involvement in Product Development constantly yields improvements in our graphics for trunk decorating, iron on labels, nameplates, and other trunk accessories. He’s always got great ideas from his own time spent at summer camp when he was a kid at no-longer-operating Camp Wowitan.

Mark sometimes summarizes his job as creating other jobs in that he’s always looking for more ways that Everything Summer Camp can branch out and grow. But what he loves best about his job is the people he works with. “It’s fun coming into work,” he says.

That’s all for now, Camp Fans. Until next time. Thanks for reading.

- John

Hey, Camp Folks!

At the beginning of the month, we had our first Employee Bio blog post about Kristy, Everything Summer Camp’s Lead Buyer.

The hope with these particular blog posts is for you to get to know us better here at Everything Summer Camp, learn a thing or two about the people who work here, and have a better understanding of who we are as a company.

Today marks our second Employee Bio post about our Production Supervisor, Shirley. She plays a very vital role in the construction of our camp trunks. As the Supervisor, Shirley coordinates the scheduling for production based on the orders for camp trunks that we get from you.

She also keeps her eye on inventory levels and assigns daily goals for her crew. Together, they get everyone’s camp trunk made, custom to what you ordered and we ship it out to you in plenty of time before summer camp starts!

A camp trunk, a foot locker, locker trunks—it doesn’t really matter what you call them; in any case, Shirley makes them and she’s probably one of the best in the country at doing it. After almost 26 years of building them, we pretty much consider her an expert at this point! 

If you’re all brushed-up on your Everything Summer Camp trivia, you may already realize that Shirley has been working here ever since this company first got going—that’s pretty impressive. The length of her employment just goes to show how much she likes her job.

What’s kept her here for so long? “I enjoy the people that I work with and take satisfaction in the products we make,” she says. Having started out as a Production Worker, Shirley’s come to have an exceptional understanding of what durable trunk construction is and how to achieve it on every single one she builds.

So, after reading this post and learning a little about Shirley, aren’t you glad we have her in charge of making your camp trunk? Until next time, Campers. And, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Blog Buddies!

A while back on our first blog post I wrote an introduction that went over all the different topics and post types we would be discussing on our blog: Summer Camp Celebrity posts, Summer Camping Tips and Advice posts, posts about our New Products, and so on.

Well, today I’m posting our very first Employee Bio post. In these posts, you’ll certainly get to know us better at Everything Summer Camp! It’ll be fun for you to find out who did what to make sure that your summer camp experience is as fun as it can be!

Today’s post will focus on our Lead Buyer at Everything Summer Camp, Kristy.

As lead buyer, it’s Kristy’s job to attend trade shows and find other ways to stay hip to the current trends. Once we have our new products in stock, she puts them on the website so you can browse around and shop online.

In the last three years, Kristy has undoubtedly become an essential asset to Everything Summer Camp.

She first started her days here as a Seasonal Customer Service Representative answering phones and helping our customers to place orders. She also worked in production for our Graphic Arts department, then went on to become the manager of the Call Center, and then moved up to Lead Buyer. 

While her days of shopping around for new products definitely keep Kristy busy, she likes the fact that every day brings a new challenge. “And what girl wouldn’t love to shop for a living?” she poses.

So how does Kristy do it? How does she work her magic? Easy—she was once a summer camper just like you. She knows what was cool then and she knows what’s cool now.

Well, now that you know what Kristy does as our Lead Buyer, feel free to fill her in on any products you’d like to see that we don’t already offer.

Go ahead—you can leave a note in the comments section below this post; after all, we are Everything Summer Camp and we love providing you with everything you’ll need for your summer camp experience.

Until next time, Campers! And, as always, thanks for reading!

- John